Xosé Castro

With so much technology, assisted translation and CAT tools, DTP software… sometimes we lose sight of what is the cornerstone of translation: an absolute mastery of the target language, not only from a lexical perspective, but also from a cultural, grammatical and typographic point of view.

When it comes to selling you usually talk about “what” you do and “how” you do it, but most importantly, you should make clear “why” you do it and, above all, “why” you are that ideal supplier your client is looking for. We are all translators, but not all of us will give the same answer to the question “Why do you translate?”.

Therefore, it is worth remembering that you should be an expert in language and communication, not just transmitters of messages at the service of a client. You must advise your clients on the best solutions for communicating with their target audience. You must be able to make informed decisions, have a rigorous opinion and documentary sources to give that ‘text appeal’ to your entire language services’ offering. And finally, you should know how to proactively adapt to the industry evolution: technological changes, new methodology (transcreation, post-edition, content curation…) and new target markets.